All language subtitles for Drug Wars s02e14

On this episode of Drug Wars, the U .S.
Coast Guard encounters a Ponga -style

boat floating in the middle of the
Pacific that raises suspicion.

The cutter then spots a fishing vessel
suddenly veering away from international

waters, causing Panamanian drug
enforcement to join the mission.

America's public enemy number one is
drug abuse.

The decades -long war on drugs is a
constant battle.

Drugs are menacing our society.

With the growing demand in the United
States, cartels are moving an endless

supply of drugs.

Positive for cocaine.

Fusion is taking you inside the drug
war. To the front lines of Operation

Martillo, a multinational counter
-narcotics operation.

In just three months, we witnessed over
15 tons of drug seizures, totaling over

$800 million.

This is Drug Wars.

On the previous episode of Drug Wars,
the U .S. Coast Guard, assigned to

patrolling the Pacific, received
reliable intel about two panga boats and

fishing vessel coordinating a major drug
transfer in the area.

But after closely inspecting two
possible targets, they come out empty

A few hours later in the day, Coast
Guard officers spot another panga boat

floating in the middle of nowhere.

happened to spot this panga or starboard
bow at a distance of 500 yards.

Upon initial inspection of it through
the binoculars, we were able to

that it had Ecuadorian nationality.
However, we were not able to determine a

name on the vessel.

The abandoned boat quickly raises
suspicions.

Either the crew was tossed overboard by
accident or smugglers transferred the

drugs and left it behind.

We're going to be launching a small boat
to go up alongside it and see if we can

get any serial numbers or any
identifying marks to help correlate what

may be if it's assimilated with another
cave.

I'd like to see if there's any kind of
contraband or indications of a possible

search and rescue case off them.

Not knowing what to expect, officers
carefully approach the empty boat. So we

found what appears to be a Colombian or
Ecuadorian flag on the bow.

Most likely it's Ecuadorian since the
vessel registration number matches what

Ecuador has in its database.

Cartels use these types of boats to move
drugs onto larger vessels, known as

motherships, which then continue on a
longer voyage.

This could be such a case.

Still,

the Coast Guard hopes to find clues as
to what went down.

Found 12 fuel drums. Six of them were
full. Six of them were empty.

They found a bunch of food on board,
some fishing gear.

People were definitely on there
beforehand.

Officers look for distinct markings,
food, soda cans, quality of fuel,

of drugs, anything that can point to
where this boat came from and the

of its trip.

Yamaha Park.

We're looking for markings,
registration, any sort of indication on

vessel became abandoned.

There's no fuel line connected to the
engines, to the fuel tank.

We saw that the line on the bow had been
severed as though it might have been

towed at one point. So no indication
that anybody is around the vessel at

time.

This paper is from the 19th of August,
2014.

Officers continue building intel to
determine whether this boat is one of

suspects they are looking for.

The crew heads back to the ship. If this
was one of the smugglers the Coast

Guard was after, traffickers beat them
to it. The drugs were already

to the fishing vessel.

So right now, we've been authorized to
take it as a hazard navigation.

So we're going to do some training with
the ODs and the gun crews.

We're actually going to think this
through.

They actually hit the disabling fire
right on the engine.

And, of course, when we went to
destructive fire, they both were right

target. And now you can see it's on
fire, and it's going to be taken here in

few minutes.

After finding an abandoned small boat,
the U .S. Coast Guard believes the

smugglers beat them to the Ponga boat
full of drugs.

The crew decides to focus their
attention to suspicious fishing vessels

area, hoping they can still catch the
smugglers. And that object looks like a

shoe or an oil can or a big airbrush.

The next day, Coast Guard officers spot
something that may change their look.

So we've come across the vessel in a
known drug transit zone, and we're

preparations to approach the vessel.

get an initial description of the vessel
and what they might be involved in.

Based on their investigation, they
notice it matches the description of the

fishing vessel described in the intel
they received the day before.

But the fishing vessel has now made a
sharp turn into

Panamanian waters.

This prevents the Coast Guard from
legally searching the vessel in

waters.

1 -5 -5 at 14 on 12.

Fortunately, Operation Martillo allows U
.S. forces to work with Panama, so the

cutter quickly radios Panama's National
Naval Air Service for support.

Hey, Wes, can you pass us into Navy
right on the right -hand side, too?

Recent multinational cooperation and
joint operations have led to a surge in

drug busts, making it that much more
difficult for cartels to move

Centro de Operaciones, buenas noches.

Aquí en el Centro de Operaciones
Aeronavales es el centro en donde se

todas las operaciones, prácticamente es
el centro de lo que es la institución y

donde se monitorea y se coordina todas
las operaciones del Servicio Nacional

Aeronaval. El nombre de la embarcación,
Portobelo I.

Acabamos de recibir información de parte
de los guardacostas de los Estados

Unidos en la que...

U .S.

forces provide intel to Panama Sinan.
The suspicious vessel is now located

of Coiva, Panama, a remote area often
used by smugglers to land drugs into

Panama.

We have a situation in the south of
Coiva, about 180 miles.

We have a boat called Portobelo 1.

The Americans report that they have
suspicions about the illegal assistance.

From the call we make, the media,
aircraft,

and boats coordinate to go to the area
to attend to it.

Attention.

Continue.

While Sinan preps for the mission, the U
.S. Coast Guard remains on guard to

prevent the fishing vessel from fleeing
or dumping its load.

OS2,

if you please pass it to the CO.

CNN is going to be taking positive
control of the boarding.

They're sending one of their helicopters
right now and a small boat full of

boarding teams.

The plan right now is for them to take
control of boarding, and then we'll have

our team stand by ready to assist.

And District 11, Coach Botwell, will be
standing by.

Botwell out.

After missing the smugglers on the empty
Ponga boat, the Boutwell hopes this

fishing vessel is the target they have
intel on and leads to a major bust.

The U .S. Coast Guard got intel about
several targets in the Pacific working

together on a major drug trafficking
transfer operation.

Now they've found a vessel that matches
the description of one of the targets

they're looking for.

But it suddenly made a turn into
Panamanian waters, prompting Sinan,

air navy, to join the fight.

Back at the nun headquarters, the team
preps to join the mission and suit up in

full gear.

Their target, now just a few miles from
shore, is in a remote area with a

history of drug trafficking.

If the traffickers make it to land, they
will flee the scene, leaving the Coast

Guard unable to pursue.

But yes, in general, we have a lot of
collaboration from them.

International waters are patrolled by
the United States, but in the event that

ship comes to the Panamanian territory,
they warn us and we stop the ship.

This is a mutual benefit. We have been
working for years with them.

Sinan has launched a helicopter and
boarding team since this vessel falls

their jurisdiction.

We couldn't do this alone.

The partnerships that we've developed
with other countries are critical to our

success in fighting international drug
smuggling.

Sinan's helicopter finally arrives on
the scene and spots the U .S. Coast

near the suspicious fishing boat.

Based on first looks, Sinan can tell
this isn't a typical vessel that would

used to transport drugs in this area.
Most smuggler boats are small and fast,

carrying 250 to 500 kilos of drugs.

Sinan's interceptor boat soon arrives in
the area.

and head straight for the suspicious
vessel before it gets any closer to

U .S. Coast Guard remains on the scene
for support.

The non -units approach the fishing
vessel and attempt to make contact

boarding.

The U .S. Coast Guard and Panama's
National Naval Air Service have

joined forces after spotting a
suspicious fishing vessel matching their

Oh, it's two.

C -9 has taken positive control of the
boarding.

Could you relay to the bridge and tell
them to have Luchador 2 -8, R -T -B, and

the O -T -H to stand by to assist the C
-9 if necessary?

Okay, Roger that. Come on, come back.
Please relay to Luchador 2 -8 to have

take control of the boarding and de
-conflict the airspace.

Roger, copy and all.

Bob, I'll stand by.

Oh.

The C -9 team has arrived on scene,
taking positive control of the vessel.

boarding team is just going to be
standing by.

Ready to assist the Sinan if requested.

Upon

opening the

cargo doors, Sinan sees hundreds of
labeled packages, all packed in the

traditional kilo brick form.

U .S. Coast Guard's intel paid off.

They believe this could be the
mothership that picked up drugs from the

abandoned Pongabog.

It takes the nun a couple of hours to
count all the drug packages.

They soon realize the stash is much
larger than they expected.

Everything's under control. We're out.

At this time, we're calling back our
boarding team to continue on with our

mission. Now that there is a good chance
this fishing vessel is related to the

abandoned panga, they'll continue the
mission and search for the other

panga, mentioned in their intel report.

. . . . . .

Watch out, watch out!

It will take four trips by two boats to
finally get all the sacks to land.

The weight of the drug combined with the
heat and rough sea conditions make this

a daunting task.

Because it's a lot.

Sometimes we're happy to find a lot, and
sometimes you're happy, but then you

have to carry it.

And because of the climate, because of
the humidity, and because of the heat.

Sometimes the information is a mess.

And we don't always hit the nail on the
head, because in this case we hit the

nail on the head.

But out of five...

After two helicopter trips and an
airplane transport, finally, all the

packages make it to Sinan base.

The packages get recounted, weighted,
and tested.

All in all, the collaboration by the US
and Panama resulted in the seizure of 1

,196 kilos of pure cocaine.

Collaborating with partner nation makes
our job easier.

And when you're coming to an endgame
interdiction or an endgame solution here

and you're getting close to territorial
waters of another nation, having those

relationships already in place and
agreements in place and the way you

procedures, everything from sharing
information to talking on radios, having

those agreements in place and agreeing
upon and having common goals to

drugs is crucial.

Since implementing these multinational
operations, yearly results have

for over 300 arrests.

and the seizure of some 130 metric tons
of cocaine with an estimated U .S. value

of $2 .6 billion.

Drugs are used to finance so much other
criminal activity, everything from

terrorism to just violent activity.

They disable countries.

They undermine legitimate government.

A kilo of cocaine, when it makes it into
the United States, can be sold as a

kilo. before it's broken down for
roughly $45 ,000.

It costs about $600 to make it.

That same kilo of cocaine in Australia
and Europe is valued at a quarter of a

million dollars.

Operation Martillo shows promising
results in preventing huge loads of

from entering the U .S. And with larger
profits to be made elsewhere, U .S.

officials hope cartels will continue to
look for new markets.

I guess I'm challenging the cartels. If
you're a real good businessman, you'll

send it somewhere else and leave America
alone.